The mayfly in music

To finish our week of mayfly posts, we’ll take a quick look at how the mayfly’s temporary, transient life-cycle has inspired many songwriters in search of a suitable metaphor. Is there potential for the engagement we get with nature through music to translate into positive conservation action?

Belle and Sebastian ‘Mayfly’ (from If You’re Feeling Sinister, 1996)

Dave Kirk’s Mayfly LP traces the insects ephemeral existence through the course of an album. Click here to be taken to the interactive website following this journey.

In Kirk’s own words: “The album is a story, in musical form, of what an imaginary mayfly sees and feels in her day;s life on the riverbank, from when she first touches “Soft Spring Rain” at the beginning of her life at Sunrise onto the ‘Mayfly’ experiencing her first smile when meeting with a ‘Water Sprite’ and then following a ‘Paper Boat Journey’ down a gentle stream into a restless river and back into the safety of a quiet stream”.

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